Spencer worked for 15 years at Starz, a strip club at 2528 W. Rosecrans Ave owned by his girlfriend, Samantha Sanson, 62. Spencer was a founder of the paintball club, "Psycho Clown Posse," which plays tournaments throughout Southern California. He went by the name "Rockzilla."

Spencer lived with Sanson at her home on Saddleback Road in the gated community.

"I worked for him almost seven years. He was a good man, a good person," said Starz bartender Shantae Young. "I liked him. I never had any problems with him."

LaBarbera said Spencer worked until 2:20 a.m. and headed for home. He normally drove along Rosecrans or Redondo Beach Boulevard toward the Harbor Freeway and then headed south.

Investigators spoke with employees who described Spencer as a nice man who did not drink, smoke or gamble. No disputes or fights occurred at the club Wednesday night, LaBarbera said.

Either as he entered the freeway or moved into traffic lanes, someone in another vehicle opened fire.

Spencer, who was hit in the neck, called 911 himself.

"You hear him just say, `I'm shot,' and a few seconds go by," LaBarbera said.

The dispatcher asked "Where are you?" Spencer was able to say "91," but nothing else.

Police tracked him with GPS and found his Toyota Prius on the transition to the eastbound 91 Freeway, where he had struck a guard rail and careened into a concrete divider.

Spencer was unconscious when officers arrived. He had suffered multiple gunshot wounds and died at a local hospital, police said.

LaBarbera said there was no sign of robbery or any disputes.

"Everything he should have had on him, he had on him," the detective said.

His death shocked fellow workers.

"(Wednesday) night, we were just dancing, having a good time. That's why we don't understand it because we had a good night last night," Young said. "I'm numb. I don't even know how to feel. We were very close. He was funny, he kept me laughing but when it was time to get down to business he did."

Spencer had a daughter in her 20s with his first wife, and a 16-year-old daughter with another woman in Los Angeles.

His second wife, Renee Adams, whom he divorced in 1993, was unaware of his death. The St. Louis woman described him as healthy, into body building, and against drinking and drugs.

"I just know when we went on our honeymoon, he tried to drink and he couldn't handle it," she said.

A woman who answered Sanson's business phone Thursday declined comment. Sanson, a real estate agent, reportedly owns two other South Bay strip clubs as well.

LaBarbera asked anyone with information to call him at 213-485-4341.

Nearly seven years ago, a Los Angeles man was chased and shot to death as he drove away from the Starz nightclub.

Anthony Nicholson, 31, was a regular at the club, which caters to black men. Known as "Black Tone," the father of three went out with friends to celebrate his 8-year-old son's birthday. The son lived with his mother in Texas.

Police said Nicholson got into a fight with other men at the club on Oct. 26, 2004.

A short time later, as Nicholson drove away, the gunmen pulled alongside his pickup at Rosecrans and Normandie avenues and fired several bullets into the vehicle.

Police solved the case.

In 1997, Sanson was listed as the manager of Starz and Spencer as a patron in a court affidavit related to a licensing dispute with the state Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control.

ABC officials had suspended the club's alcohol license for 35 days and put it on probation after witnessing dancers violate rules for touching customers.